Sibley, Charlotte Marilyn
(2012)

Abstract

Background: While farm work is consistently rated as one
of the most dangerous jobs in
the United States, there is little information available on the
health risks of this
occupation. Research examining connections between food insecurity,
diet diversity,
demographic variables, and adverse health outcomes among migrant
farm workers is
especially lacking.
Objective: This study identifies predictors of anemia, high
blood glucose, hypertension,
and overweight/obesity, quantifies the distribution of these health
outcomes, and studies
their associations with food insecurity and dietary diversity among
a population of
migrant farm workers. The study also explores the workers'
perceptions of their health
and access to healthy foods and key informants' insights on these
issues.
Methods: Surveys (n=62) conducted with a subset of the migrant
farm worker
population investigated the prevalence of and risk factors for food
insecurity and low
dietary diversity, while clinical data from the larger group
(n=385) provided information
about health outcomes. Focus groups discussions (FGDs) with women
in the farm worker
community explored household prioritization of resources and food
preferences, and key
informant interviews provided further information about community
resources.
Results: Of the 385 farm workers, 22.4% were hypertensive,
49.4% were anemic, 33.5%
had high blood glucose and an additional 41.1% had elevated blood
glucose, and 57.7%
were overweight or obese . In the surveyed subset, 66.1%
experienced food insecurity,
and 61.3% had low/medium dietary diversity. Food insecurity was
associated with a
three-fold increase in the odds of having high blood glucose.
Themes from the FGDs and
key informant interviews indicated that farm workers viewed
financial constraints, lack
of cultural familiarity, and limited access to healthcare as the
most important barriers to
healthy living.
Discussion: The high prevalence of food insecurity and low
dietary diversity, as well as
the association of food insecurity with high blood glucose,
mirrored the findings of
previous research. The qualitative data from this study revealed
that while there are some
resources available to help migrant farm workers lead healthy
lives, the workers often did
not know about these services. The results of this study can be
used to inform future
health outreach efforts among migrant farm workers.

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